Seoul , South Korea -LRB- CNN -RRB- It started with a first-class aviation executive throwing a fit on a flight over her nuts .

It ended Thursday with that former executive sentenced to jail for one year .

Heather Cho was working for Korean Air on December 5 when , as a first-class passenger on an international flight , an attendant served her macadamia nuts in a bag . Cho wanted them on a plate and demanded that the plane go back to the gate at New York 's JFK airport so a crew member could be kicked off the flight .

A South Korean judge said that her actions threatened the development of the aviation industry and inconvenienced passengers , and ruled that she violated aviation law , changed a flight path and interfered with operations .

Cho had the chief steward removed from the flight after the plane had left the gate .

The flight arrived 11 minutes behind schedule .

A year in jail may seem just as extreme as freaking out over nuts . But the flight attendant testified that she was pressured by another Korean Air manager to keep quiet about Cho 's behavior . Prosecutors said during her trial that there was a systematic attempt to cover up the incident .

The judge blasted Cho for her conduct , saying that she had used the plane as if it were her personal car and that as a passenger , she could not override crew members and give orders during a flight .

The case , dubbed `` nut rage , '' gripped South Korea , especially because Cho is the Korean Air chairman 's daughter .

There is growing resentment over the perceived privileges and nepotism for the families that control the country 's top companies .

Cho resigned as vice president at the company a few days after the incident and publicly apologized , saying she accepted `` full responsibility . ''

On Thursday , she appeared in court wearing a green prison uniform . She gazed downward . Her hair hung in her face .

`` I do n't know how to find forgiveness , '' she said .

Park Chang-jin , the chief steward who was booted from the flight , has said the former executive treated crew members like `` feudal slaves . ''

Details of Cho 's behavior on the flight have emerged . Park and Kim Do Hee , the flight attendant who served the nuts , had knelt in front of Cho in apology . Kim testified that Cho berated them about the service , and later shoved and cursed her .

When the flight arrived in Korea , the flight attendant said another airline manager , Yeo Woon-jin , pressured her not to talk to investigators about Cho 's physically abusing her and Park .

Yeo was found guilty of interfering with an investigation .

Following public fury over the December incident , Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho apologized to the flight attendants and the public .

Asked in court in January if he knew that his daughter mistreated employees , he said , `` I just heard that she 's strict with her workers . ''

CNN 's KJ Kwon contributed to this report .

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A former Korean Air executive is found guilty of violating aviation law after interrupting a flight over nuts

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She has been sentenced to one year in jail for all charges